Return of the Red Wolves at Oglebay
Trending
WHEELING - Oglebay's Good Zoo is going back to its roots by helping to raise red wolves again, the second-most endangered mammal in the United States.
The wolves once roamed much of the eastern U.S., including locally. However, habitat destruction and aggressive predator-control programs nearly drove the species to extinction, with about 40 individuals estimated to be left in the wild and 200 in captivity.
The Good Zoo cared for the wolves in the past, with 21 pups being born between 1996 and 2006, according to a press release. With the creation of the African Adventure area, the opportunity to take in a new species was made available, and the zoo will return to its roots by agreeing to rear more red wolves again. The Wolf Species Survival Plan is a program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums with the assistance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Conservation is an important part of the work we do at Oglebay's Good Zoo. Breeding the wolves in human care has been coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since the late 1980s in an attempt to save the species," said Joe Greathouse, director of the Good Zoo. "With any luck, given our past success, wolves that are reared here at Oglebay will be part of that reintroduction process."
Other conservation work in the Good Zoo includes bobcats, Eastern hellbenders, eagles, hawks, owls and monarch butterflies.
Nearly every animal in the zoo is part of an AZA species survival plan.